Mike Romero, middle, prepares to testify before the House committee investigating the state Health Department. At the table is Romero's lawyer, Peter Scimeca. Standing is committee chair Rep. Josh Cockroft.

Oklahoma Watch

Update from Health Department spokesman Tony Sellars: “The Oklahoma State Department of Health confirms the resignation of CFO Mike Romero. The agency will not have any additional comment at this time.”

Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit organization that produces in-depth and investigative journalism on important public-policy issues facing the state. More Oklahoma Watch content can be found at www.oklahomawatch.org.

Mike Romero, the chief financial officer for the Oklahoma State Department of Health and one of two executives who drew attention to the agency’s accounting irregularities, abruptly resigned Thursday. In a resignation letter obtained by Oklahoma Watch, Romero cited “multiple conflicts of interest” at the agency and said information technology consolidation costs from the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the agency Interim Health Commissioner Preston Doerflinger used to lead, need to be fixed in the way outlined in the agency’s recent Corrective Action Report. Romero and Doerflinger clashed over suggested financial reporting changes outlined in a memo by Denise Northrup, interim director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.